Uchiha Bing chopped wood for three whole days.
Maeda Hideki didn’t let him use his nichirin blade, permitting only that old axe.
He didn’t say much about teaching either; he just sat on the porch every day watching, occasionally tapping the floor with his cane to indicate when a movement was wrong.
“Chopping wood isn’t cutting down people.
Don’t tense the muscles in your shoulders so tight—relax your wrists.”
“The rhythm of your breathing needs to sync with the fall of the axe.
Don’t exhale after you chop; exhale at the exact moment you strike down.”
“You’re applying force incorrectly.
It doesn’t rely on your arms, but on the explosive power generated by breathing.
If a swordsman using a Breathing Style can’t even chop wood properly, how do you expect to slay demons?”
On the evening of the third day, the last log was split in two.
The cut was neat and smooth, requiring almost no further refinement.
Uchiha Bing set down the axe, soaked in sweat, his arms so sore he could barely raise them.
But he had realized something: the method of generating force to chop wood with an axe shared similarities with the Fourth Form of Water Breathing.
Both relied on the instantaneous explosive power of breathing rather than brute strength.
Having chopped wood for three days, he felt that the explosive force of his Fourth Form was significantly more stable than before.
Maeda Hideki pushed himself up from the porch with his cane, glanced at the neatly stacked piles of firewood filling the yard, and then looked at Uchiha Bing.
“…Not bad.
Starting tomorrow, I will teach you the basic forms.”
Yamada’s foundational sword training was progressing simultaneously.
Maeda placed him at the other end of the courtyard to start with the most basic practice swings, swinging the sword five hundred times a day.
On the first day, Yamada couldn’t lift his arms; on the second day, he gritted his teeth and pushed through; by the third day, he could steadily finish all five hundred swings without complaining of exhaustion.
Occasionally, after chopping wood, Uchiha Bing would glance over and see Yamada’s sweat soaking a patch of the dirt yard.
This kid had ordinary talent and comprehension, but he possessed a fierce tenacity.
On the morning of the fourth day, Maeda Hideki stood in the yard.
He had discarded his cane, fitted a prosthetic on his leg, and held a wooden sword in one hand.
“Thunder Breathing is different from Water Breathing.
All of its forms are built upon extreme speed—pushing your speed to the limit in the moment of breath to kill in a single strike.”
He took a deep breath, stepped forward with his single leg, crossed several meters in a flash, and appeared on the other side of the yard.
The wooden sword swung down in the morning light, the sound of the blade piercing the air sharp and brief, like a bolt of lightning rending the air with a sonic boom.
Thunder Breathing—First Form: Thunderclap and Flash.
“The core of Thunder Breathing is explosive power, concentrating all your breath to be released at the moment of striking.
No holding back, no secondary plans.
If one strike isn’t enough, strike again, but every single strike must be with full power.”
Maeda Hideki only demonstrated the basic forms—the linear charge of First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, the explosive five-fold strike of Second Form: Rice Spirit, and the high-speed spinning slash of Third Form: Swarm Transformation.
His single leg relied on the prosthetic as a pivot point when moving, but the moment he struck, he was still astonishingly fast.
Uchiha Bing watched from the side, memorizing the breathing rhythm of every strike, and then drew his nichirin blade to begin trying.
Thunder Breathing was completely different from Water Breathing.
Water Breathing enhanced all physical attributes very evenly, possessing both offense and defense in battle, making it comprehensive with no shortfalls and extremely strong defensive capabilities, suitable for group fights and battles of attrition.
Thunder Breathing, on the other hand, focused on instantaneous explosive power and deciding victory in a single strike, concentrating on enhancing one’s instant explosive force and neural reaction speed.
In other words, the faster a person’s speed and neural reactions were, the more suited they were to cultivate Thunder Breathing.
If Water Breathing was suited for group fights and battles of attrition, then Thunder Breathing was suited for 1v1 instant kills, raids, and breakout battles.
Maeda Hideki sat on the porch watching Uchiha Bing practice, occasionally offering corrections.
He spoke little, but every sentence hit the mark.
Uchiha Bing practiced to the side while Yamada swung his sword at the other end of the yard.
All three remained silent; the only sounds in the yard were the swoosh of wooden swords cutting through the air and the dull thud of a cane tapping against wood.
Ten days later, Uchiha Bing had mastered the basic forms of Thunder Breathing.
It couldn’t be called true mastery—he had practiced for too short a time, and what he wanted wasn’t complete mastery, but rather to understand the force-generation logic of Thunder Breathing and compare it with Water Breathing.
One of these two Breathing Styles focused on instantaneous explosion, while the other focused on continuous flow.
Essentially, they were different ways of applying breathing rhythm.
Once he understood this difference, he broke through the barriers between different Breathing Styles.
“Mr.
Maeda, thank you for these past few days,” Uchiha Bing said, standing on the porch to formally say goodbye.
Maeda Hideki sat in his wheelchair, his remaining eye staring at him.
“There are many swordsmen who want to develop a Breathing Style unique to themselves, but many of them die before they ever grow strong.
Do you know why?” This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Uchiha Bing asked curiously, “Why?”
Maeda hummed softly.
“You young people, relying on a bit of talent, don’t know the breadth of heaven and earth.
The founders of the five major Breathing Styles were all extraordinarily gifted geniuses.
How could the Breathing Styles they left behind be so easily altered?
If your talent is insufficient and you waste too much time pondering Breathing Styles, delaying your own growth, you will die at the hands of a demon sooner or later.”
“…Thank you for the advice.”
Uchiha Bing thanked him sincerely once more.
Seeing that the young man’s mind was made up, Maeda spoke no further.
Some people simply wouldn’t turn back until they banged their heads against the wall, so further words were useless.
He waved his remaining hand, indicating that Uchiha Bing could leave.
Uchiha Bing bowed, turned, and walked toward the yard gate.
Just after taking a few steps, Maeda’s voice came from behind him.
“I’ll teach this kid Yamada well.
He has average talent, but he isn’t afraid of hard work.
In the future, he should be able to get by as a Mizunoto-rank swordsman.
The next time you come, if he isn’t dead yet, maybe he can spar with you.”
Hearing the noise, Yamada put down his wooden sword and ran over to the yard gate, coming to a stop with sweat still dripping from his forehead.
Though breathless, he spoke with great effort: “Senior Uchiha, I will train hard and strive to join the Demon Slayer Corps as soon as possible!”
Uchiha Bing paused in his footsteps.
He looked at the young boy in front of him wearing old clothes given by Maeda, sleeves rolled up several times, hands covered in calluses from burst blisters, but his eyes were filled with fighting spirit.
This young boy didn’t know that his hard work wouldn’t be of much use; before he could even pass the Final Selection, the Demon King would die in the final battle at the Infinity Castle.
However, Uchiha Bing didn’t intend to change the boy’s destiny.
Time would erase all pain, and focusing on sword practice was better than drowning in agony every day.
Besides, the Demon Slayer Corps provided room and board, making it a decent shelter for a young kid.
“Train well, and live well.”
Yamada stood where he was, watching that black-clad figure walk further and further down the mountain path until he was completely swallowed by the shadows of the trees.